Archive for January, 2011

Interview conducted by Major JSilva
[Upper section is in-character, the bottom is out-of-character.]

Hamish Grayson (Diplomat and Public Relations) and Van Cleef (CEO and Admiral) of Caldari Independent Navy Reserve [CAIN]. CAIN is a Caldari militia pvp/rp corporation. For more information, check them out on Evelopedia here.

Sov Wars: So for those who don’t know, who are you and what do you do in New Eden?

Hamish Grayson: We are the Caldari Independent Navy Reserve. We have a very long history of serving the Caldari State. Currently we are enlisted in the State Protectorate, fighting in the proxy war between the Caldari State and the Gallente Federation.

Sov Wars: How long has CAIN been apart of the State Militia?

Hamish Grayson: Currently we are on the seventeenth day of our second tour in StaPro. Our first tour was during the onset of the war, but after we secured all of Placid and Black Rise from the Federation, the command staff decided CAIN could better serve in other ways.

Sov Wars: What seperates you from other Caldari Militia Corps?

Hamish Grayson: I suppose one thing that makes us stand apart is that we do not support Heth’s government.

Sov Wars: Why does CAIN not support Heth seeing as he the leader of the State. Doesn’t CAIN techically work for him in an indirect sense?

Van Cleef: The State is not Heth, and Heth is not the State. We support the idea behind the State, not an icon.

Sov Wars: Do you wish to see Heth removed and the return of the CEP ?

Van Cleef: I wish to see the ideals of what the State was founded for to be realized. I currently do not see Heth supporting those ideals.

Sov Wars: CAIN is on it’s second tour with the State Pro, what are your goals on this second tour of duty?

Hamish Grayson: We have been outside the borders of the State for some time. Right now our intentions are to watch, learn, and sharpen our swords.

Sov Wars: CAIN was recently part of Ethereal Dawn, can you explain what you were doing with them?

Hamish Grayson: Working in the depths of null-sec exposed us to tactics and resources that we wouldn’t have had access to other wise. Additionally, we had developed a working relationship with the Solar-Nexus corporation with whom we’d been former alliance mates.

Sov Wars: With CAIN being back in State Pro, will your pilots be working with Amarrian Allies any (IE KotMC or Draketrain) or will you be trying to avoid the Matari/Amarr conflict zone?

Hamish Grayson: The minmatar are a very clever opponent, and they keep us from getting soft. However, when the time is right we will be moving operations to Black Rise and Placid. We also have a relationship with PIE Inc that spans several years, and it behooved us to re-enter the fray with a strong ally at our side.

Sov Wars: PIE has been a staunchly Amarrian loyalist corporation for many years. Has their push for the Caldari to convert to the Amarrian faith ever tested the relationship with PIE and CAIN?

Hamish Grayson: There has not been any overt attempts at converting us to their faith. They do enjoy their sermons in local however.

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Sov Wars: Many people claim that FW is broken and CCP has vastly ignored it. What improvements would you like to see made?

Van Cleef: More impact of player actions on the FWscale. Have FW space more like 0.0 space with system improvements, etc.

Hamish Grayson: I’d like them to remove t1 frigate restrictions on small plexes. It’s silly that I can bring in a Dramiel, but not a wolf. Further, I’d like to more IC news and narrative changes.

Sov Wars: What about plexing? There isn’t much reward for players to go out and plex currently. Would you like to see an actual award given out for doing these?

Hamish Grayson: I think missions offer plenty of rewards – controlling a system should provide some sort of tactical advantage. We mostly just use plexes for ambushes anyway. Since having the Caldari name on the system doesn’t make it easier for us to fight there, we don’t bother trying to take them.
﻿Sov Wars: Another common complaint is that FW missions give out too much LP for little effort. Do you think they need to be nerfed?

Van Cleef: Compared to 0.0 rewards, FW aren’t overpowering.

Sov Wars: Do you think alliances like Pandemic Legion or Dark Rising are becoming a problem in the FW areas?

Sov Wars: It is rumored that the Amarrian’s have an Aeon and an Nyx, and that the Minmatar have at least two Nyx, possibly more. Do you think supercaps are a problem at all or just fair game? Should they be allowed in FW zones or left in null sec?

Hamish Grayson: That’s a complicated issue that affects more than just FW. Something needs to be done about SC proliferation, but the solution is beyond me.

Van Cleef : Null sec. I don’t see an Empire allowing a supercarrier in their space.

Invelious, creator and co-CEO of DIA and founder of the Alliance, Covenant of Prophecy (CoP).

Sov Wars: How long have you been in Amarr FW?

Invelious: I missed the first three weeks, but effectively since the beginning, so almost three years.

Sov Wars: What do you wish CCP would change about FW?

Invelious: OMG. Lol. I don’t even know where to begin with that question. Plexing, and how the standing hits work. Repping your own fleet and militia members, and taking a standings hit because they are GCC needs some serious changing.

Sov Wars: Do you feel that the addition of the FW missions was a step forward or a step backwards in terms of improving FW?

Invelious: Backwards. They are basically plexs with real rewards, without actually doing anything in terms of taking systems

Sov Wars: Do you think the missions just attracted a lot of “false recruits” who are only in the militia for the missions? How does that affect the war?

Invelious: Naturally, once the secret to running them was exposed, carebears started joining en mass. the rewards are huge and the effort is minimal.

Sov Wars: Are there any parts of the Incursion patch that you think will have a noticeable effect on FW?

Invelious: Not at all. FW wont be affected in my opinion.

Sov Wars: Do you think a scenario similar to what happened with the Caldari/Gallente FW will happen here, with one side capturing a large majority if not all of the enemy systems?

Invelious: Not for a long, long, long time, but it will be Amarr.

Sov Wars: So what inspired you to create DIA?

Invelious: My first FW corp was with Vigilia Valeria Expeditionary Forces, you would know them as 1pg now. I learned a lot from them, but I found them to be to restricting. In a war of this nature more versatility is required for success, so I formed DIA to be that corp that hard line Amarrians like 1PG or PIE could not be.

Sov Wars: What can DIA accomplish that those corps cannot?

Invelious: The ability to use ships other than just Amarrian hulls, and to bring in pilots that are not just of Amarrian blood line, not only allows for a more dynamic fleet composition, but a greater member base.

Sov Wars: Recently DIA left Amarr Militia to join the CoP alliance, though now you’re back in militia. Was that the plan all along?

Invelious: Ultimately, but I will admit the timing was sooner than anticipated. CoPs objectives have been put on hold. But, it is still alive and functioning, DIA is still part of CoP and always will be, and COP was created to assist the militia. Be it externally or internally.

Sov Wars: CoP has been called ‘Amarr’s Star Fraction’ by some. Do you agree with that statement?

Invelious: No, not at all. CoP was composed of militia pilots, leaving the militia and still fighting the same targets we had fought for so long is basically doing the same thing we were doing before, except giving the targets the advantage of us taken gate gun aggression. DIA had some things planned outside of the militia, and required us to leave temporarily. The “SF” label was mainly imposed by the Minmatar pilots, and just a slander agaisnt us. Nothing more.

Sov Wars: If CCP would allow non-sov holding alliances to join FW, would you consider moving CoP into Faction Warfare?

Invelious: Oh my god yes, it’s only natural.

Sov Wars: What makes CoP different from Star Fraction/Electus Matari?

Invelious: Well, I wouldn’t ever, ever put SF in the same category as EM. CoP is Amarr aligned and motivated to support Amarr at all costs, much like EM to the minmatar. But we have a lot of steps to take before we can even be compared to be of equal caliber to EM.

Sov Wars: What is CoP’s stance on pirate corps and alliances operating in the war zone? Specifically Heretics, SCUM and Dragoon Federation.

Invelious: They need to be eliminated.

Sov Wars: Amarr and Minmatar have occasionally teamed up to fight third parties, any comments on this type of cooperation?

Invelious: I prefer to avoid those situations at all costs. I don’t agree with it. But if I’m in a militia fleet, and im not the FC, and they call for if. im not going to leave any of my guys behind.

Sov Wars: What are the some of the specific advantages gained by having an external alliance supporting Amarr militia that could not be accomplished with a single corp within militia?

Invelious: Being able to move through enemy territory is one. Logistics becomes a bit easier as the enemy may not want to GCC to kill you is another. Those are the two main reasons really. But in CoP’s case there were a variety more that will remain confidential.

Sov Wars: What can you tell us of DIA & CoP’s plans for the future?

Invelious: Well CoP, that will remain confidential. As for DIA, so long as Amarr has borders, we will be here defending them.

Valkyr Industries lost a small Caldari POS today in Huola to an Amarrian fleet led by one of the militia’s top commanders, Predator Elite.

“It is a threat I will not tolerate.” Predator said after the destruction of the POS.

When asked why Valkyr Industries choose Huola to base a POS knowing it is the staging base for the Amarr militia, SigmaPi of [VKYR] responded with: “Well, the initial idea behind the two small pos’s was to force a fight over them. The real issue was that we didn’t think the fight would come quite so quickly. I knew that the pos’s were most likely dead before I even put them up, I was just hoping for a strong but fun fight, which we got one this morning.”

SigmaPi admits the POS “wasn’t timed well, and came out in Amarr prime. Pred dropped his rev on the pos and I think there was a Nag and Phoenix as well – long story short, the Minmatar basically left the POS to die while we engaged the Amarr support fleet on the Kourm gate in Huola. In the end, I think the fight was fun and the overall ending was mostly a wash, with both sides losing a few ships, and the POS being destroyed. The Amarr support fleet lost mostly T2 tacklers and higher value ships, while the Minmatar lost nanobs’s and the pos. The Killboard BR is a bit off, but accurate enough to go by.”

Within the spacelanes of New Eden, the capusuleer has created his own argot to rapidly express him/herself. As in any society, of particular interest are the very particular insults pilots cast at each other thru the vast emptiness of space: Carebear, Griefer, Noob and Pirate are among the more common slanders one can encounter.

My personal favorite is “Killmail Whore”. Denoting an individual that has mastered getting on every single possible killmail without contributing anything significant to the engagement, Killmail Whores are, in my humble opinion, the epitomy of piss-poor PvPers obsessed with silly stats in a universe already overflowing with meaningless numbers. They are the bane of any organized fleet, a weak link and a bad apple waiting to fuck up a well organized fleet, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Why so much anger Sneaky? What’s so bad about a couple douchetards whoring on to a couple killmails? In a nutshell: Everything. In the small-gang environment that is Factional Warfare a fleet needs all of the potential damage on the primary targets. If one person thinks “hey lookit dat ship over there, ima gonna pewpew it so I can haz killmail” it can mean five, ten or even twenty percent of your fleet’s damage is NOT being assigned to the primary target.

The worst part is that since the killmail whore is getting on more and more kills, he/she/it feels he is all the better for it, and the retards that abound in the militias start treating them with respect. More people start imitating this behavior and before you know it, you have a fleet of killmail whores that get beaten in fleet engagements time and time again (hello Minmatar EU TZ). That said, there is some killmail whoring that is semi-acceptable. Logistics pilots often fit some sort of offensive module or drones on their ship in order to get on killmails. Battleship pilots often assign drones to fast tackle ships to add some versatility to the fleet, giving the smaller more agile ships added punch. Tagging multiple targets and/or pods at the end of an engagement where your fleet has emerged victorious is another common and for the most part, harmless form of killmail whoring. And then there are people that have taken killmail whoring and turned it into an art, whoring on to killmails from over 200kms away.

There are a couple of ways one can distinguish a killmail whore and his ship. The most common “tell” is an abundance of sensor boosters. These mid-slot modules permit fast locking on targets far out of weapons optimal range, facilitating the killmail whoreage. Signal Amplifiers and Targeting Range Rigs are also clear indications of a killmail whore. Another common characteristic is ungrouped guns and having different ammunition types loaded. Common behaviors of killmail whores include refusing to attack targets with the intent of forcing them into a larger friendly fleet, a chronic inability to attack unless backup is ready to save him/her and their useless whore ship and a general lack of backbone.

What should be done with killmail whores you ask?

Don’t fleet them.

Or kill them and mock their terribad sebo-sniper-whoreship until they ragequit.

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Sovereignty Wars

Character: Elisen

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